Tracy Mosby (nee McConnell) is the wife of Ted Mosby and the mother of his children. She was the bass player as well as vocals for a wedding band called the Superfreakonomics that commonly played around New York. Her friends include Cindy, Kelly, and Louis (who was her boyfriend by April 2013). She studied for her economics degree at Columbia University. She most likely lived at 317 West 115th Street, apartment 7A, until she moved in with Ted. In Last Forever - Part Two, it is revealed that she dies of an unknown illness in 2024.

Prior to her full revelation, the mystery of Tracy's name, physical appearance, and how she would meet Ted was a huge debacle in the real world, as the producers never revealed either for several years. As such, she was commonly called "The Mother" by fans, after the show's name. Her first full appearance was in Something New, her name was revealed in Last Forever - Part Two, and where she would meet Ted was confirmed in Farhampton.

Contents

Family

Character Background

In 2005, while celebrating her 21st birthday with her friends at a MacLaren's Pub on the west side of New York, she receives a phone call giving her the news that her deeply loved boyfriend Max has died. She returns home after the funeral that night to find a packaged ukulele he had gifted to her, which she keeps as a reminder of his spirit and presence. This event deeply traumatizes her and put her off dating ever again.

In 2008, she reluctantly attends the St. Patrick's Day party seen in No Tomorrow after being talked into it by her roommate and best friend Kelly. That night she runs into Mitch (The Naked Man) who is revealed to have been her music instructor some years back, before either had moved to New York. Tracy offers Mitch her cello back at home. They prematurely leave the party and she forgets her Yellow Umbrella at the club. Back at her house she brings out the cello to find Mitch standing nude before her. As she hands him the instrument to cover himself up, he tells her it's worked 2 times already (this being his third time) and that it's become "his thing." The two sit down and have a conversation about what Tracy wants to do with her life. She admits wanting to end world poverty which inspires her to get a degree in economics. In this moment she realizes that she'd forgotten her umbrella and returns to the club to get it, running by Kelly, who has just returned home. By then, though, the club had closed, and when she returns the next morning to grab it, Ted had already found it while looking for his phone.

In 2009, she meets Cindy in her Econ 305 class. As Kelly has since moved out, she invites Cindy - who is without a place to live - to become her new roommate. Cindy agrees, and Tracy tells her that she's taken herself off the dating radar because of what happened with Max. She describes herself as "old fashioned," stating that she believes that everybody has only one soul-mate that they can truly connect with and that she'd already met him, but he's come and gone. Ted then walks into the wrong classroom and begins giving his lecture to the class that was seen in Definitions. It is here that Tracy first absentmindedly hears and laughs at Ted's infamous "shellfish" joke. Once Ted begins teaching architecture, Tracy believes she's in the wrong room and hurriedly runs out. However, it is Ted who is in the wrong room. The two briefly cross paths again as Ted is running to the correct classroom and Tracy realizes she needs to go back.

Cindy tells Tracy about Ted's visit.

Later that year Ted dates Cindy and breaks up with her a short time later, leaving the Yellow Umbrella behind in Tracy's apartment. Tracy notices her missing possession where Ted had left it by the door. She enters Cindy's room to ask her about it to find her friend distraught. Cindy reveals to her that she had been dating "the architecture professor that walked into the wrong room first term," and that they had parted ways because Ted was unwittingly "already in love" with Tracy. She objects that this is not possible as he hasn't even met her, and Cindy begins lovingly describing Tracy's favorable traits. Cindy then kisses Tracy rather passionately. Tracy tells Cindy she probably has things of her own to figure out, and Cindy agrees.

In 2010 Tracy meets Darren, who sucks up to her and tells her that he's been a longtime fan of her band, "Superfreakonomics". She offers to let him sing vocals at their next show, which leads into Darren progressively corrupting the band and later trying to kick her out.

In 2011, as Tracy and an unhelpful Darren are packing up equipment from a show, a man named Louis (Seen in The Time Travelers) appears and offers to load the rest of her equipment into the car. Tracy and Louis begin talking, and he asks her out for a drink. She objects, but when Louis hands her his number she accepts and meets him at MacLaren's. Tracy explains to Louis that she doesn't date because years earlier she bought her "Jackpot lottery ticket" that went "Kaboom" (Max's death) and she personally believes she'll never have anybody like him again. However, she eventually gives Louis a chance, and they begin dating. Yet it is seen that her relationship with Louis wasn't true love.

Tracy gets Barney on the right track.

Six months before Barney and Robin's wedding, seen in a flashback in Platonish: Barney goes to a drug store to hook up with a random woman to complete a challenge to which he runs into Tracy during the period of time she was still dating Louis. As Barney attempts to get her number, she stops him, begins giving him relationship advice, and tells him he's a nice guy. Barney gets offended at her advice and chases after her asking for clarity on his situation. They head outside and sit on a bench, and she tells Barney that she thinks he'd failed falling in love and now he's been trying to keep himself busy to escape it, and asks Barney, "Do you want to continue playing the game or do you want to win?" to which Barney begins realizing he's wanted Robin all along. He tells Tracy he could easily win the love of his life in 20 minutes, and she stops him, and tells him it'll be a long process, and it'll take all he has and is willing to give. Barney sits on the bench deep in thought as Tracy gets up and heads to the nearest subway. It is that night that Barney begins to write "The Robin" which culminates with his proposal later in the year.

"One ticket to Farhampton, please." The first time the audience gets to see the face of Tracy.

Before Barney and Robin's wedding, Tracy was offered a place to stay in Farhampton where Louis owned a beachside house. This is where she would be staying until Sunday night of the wedding weekend.

Lily and The Mother talk during their train ride to Farhampton.

In The Locket, The Mother offers Lily some of the cookies (which she calls "sumbitches") that she brought with her on the train to Farhampton, after seeing Lily distraught about missing Marvin. She later sits beside Lily, who rants to her about her previous car ride with Ted and some of the annoying habits he'd displayed during their drive to the wedding. Tracy mocks Ted with Lily, but she also possesses all of Ted's habits while traveling. She later suggests to Lily that perhaps Ted deliberately got Lily to leave his car, which helps her realize that Ted wanted to beat Lily to the Farhampton Inn so she couldn't stop him from giving the locket to Robin in hopes of winning her back. She then tries to look at her phone to see Marvin, but Tracy takes her phone away, telling Lily it only makes her upset. They get into a cat-fight on board the train, and eventually Tracy gives in and allows Lily to have her phone to see if any new Marvin pictures have been uploaded. Just as she's about to see a photo revealing Marshall accepting his judgeship, Marvin accidentally deletes the photo elsewhere in the Minnesota Airport, and Tracy gives Lily a hug to help her feel better.

The Mother with Marshall.

The night before Barney and Robin's wedding, during Bass Player Wanted, Tracy finds Marshall and Marvin on the side of the road on their way to the Farhampton Inn and offers them a ride. In the car, she reveals that Lily told her all about his plans to move to Rome with her. Marshall asks if Lily said anything to her about his accepting of a judgeship, and Tracy guarantees he'll be having quite the talk with his wife once he arrives. She tells Marshall that she's heading back into the city because she recently quit being the bass player for the band she created in college, "The Superfreakonomics," before her lead singer, Darren, could fire her.

Darren is revealed to be the man who's been causing trouble between Lily and Robin and between Barney and Ted by revealing some large secrets, such as Ted's moving to Chicago. Tracy has a talk with Lily in the Farhampton Inn Bar prior to meeting Marshall, where Lily recommends she steal Darren's van and head back to New York. Tracy does so, but Marshall convinces her to stand up for herself and kick Darren out of the band she created instead of just giving in. Once they arrive at the Inn together, she immediately heads back to the bar and orders the "Kennedy Package", just as Lily had in Coming Back and even says "Thank you, Linus" after every drink. Linus is shown to have fallen for Darren's same charm, and Tracy sits, feeling down on her luck.

Meanwhile, Ted has stolen a 30-year-old bottle of Glen McKenna from a nearby liquor store to prove his friendship to Barney. After Marshall reunites with the gang, Darren rounds the corner and bumps into Ted after he begins pouring his friends glasses of the Glen McKenna. Ted turns around and punches Darren in the face, knocking him out. After hearing this news, Tracy tells the bartender she wants to buy "whoever the best man was" a glass of 35-year-old Scotch and leaves the bar just before Ted and the gang arrive cheering, Ted on. After Tracy leaves, future Ted remarks, "Kids, that was the first drink your mother ever bought me".

Ted hears The Mother sing for the first time.

The same night, a few hours after Bass Player Wanted, she returns to Louis' house, where he proposes to her. In a panic, she walks onto his front porch and looks into the sky, asking Max if it's finally okay to let go of him, and if she should. She accepts that perhaps it's best to move on and find love, but when she returns to Louis she turns down his proposal in tears, grabs her umbrella and belongings, and goes to the Farhampton Inn. That night, she gets a key from Curtis, the desk clerk, who gives her the room right beside Ted's. She puts her stuff down, gets out Max's ukulele, walks onto the balcony of her room, and starts to sing a personal rendition of "La Vie en Rose". Ted, sitting just a few feet away on the balcony of his room, listens to the song, and Future Ted states that he has heard her sing "La Vie En Rose" many times since meeting her, but that time on the balcony would always be his favorite.

The Mother with Robin

A few minutes before Barney and Robin's wedding ceremony, Robin runs away from the church in her dress and accidentally knocks Tracy down while she is setting up for the wedding reception. Tracy recognizes her as the bride and that because she was hurrying away that she was probably planning on ditching the wedding. When a distraught Robin asks for her help, Tracy places her hands on Robin's shoulders and advises that she should simply take three deep breaths, and that doing so can sometimes change everything. (The End of the Aisle)

At the reception, Ted sees Tracy for the first time, playing the bass with the band. Barney sees and recognizes her and tells Tracy that he "got the girl" she once advised him to go after, referring to Robin. When he finds out that Tracy is now single, he tries to introduce Ted to her but is side-tracked when Ted announces that he is leaving. Later that night, Ted is waiting at the train station when Tracy arrives. Ted gathers up the courage and talks to her. Tracy tells him that he knows him through the Econ 305 class, and Ted knows that she was Cindy's old roommate. They then realize that they both owned her yellow umbrella at different points and realize that they found each other. They hit it off, and the following day, Ted calls her and invites her to dinner.

Three days after Barney and Robin's wedding, she and Ted go on their first date. Ted tells her the story of Gary Blauman, and she sees Louis, which makes her uncertain she is ready to date again. Ted walks her home and finishes the story. Tracy and Ted share their first kiss and continue to walk around.

The Mother and Ted share their first kiss

In 2014, a year after Barney and Robin's wedding weekend, seen in a flash-forward in Coming Back: Tracy and Ted are checking in to the Farhampton Inn, where Ted tells her a story of how one year earlier, he sat in the very chair across from them almost to the moment and told himself, "I'm coming back, and I'm bringing you". She remarks that Ted hadn't even met her a year ago, but Ted tells her he knew he would. He gets up and leaves to check them in, and Tracy looks around the room and eventually her eyes land on the very seat Ted from 2013 had been sitting in.

Less than one year later, as seen in The Lighthouse, Ted stands with Tracy on top of the Farhampton lighthouse, staring out into the sunset. She says it's "almost like going back in time", which Ted remarks was exactly what he'd said when he visited there with Cassie in 2013. She remarks how she pukes whenever Ted does, and she doesn't want that to ruin "the perfect evening"; Ted tells her he'll try to make it even better. He sits on one knee and opens up a box, revealing a ring, and begins to propose, but before he can say her name and complete his sentence she automatically says yes without question, multiple times. He stands up, they kiss, and are officially engaged.

In 2015, Ted and Tracy are planning to get married in a grand ceremony in France in September that year. However, they postpone their wedding indefinitely when Tracy announces that she is pregnant. The couple continued living together in their house, unwed.

The Mother with Ted and their daughter Penny

In 2017, at 2:17 in the morning, seen during a flash-forward in Unpause, Ted & Tracy are once again staying in the Farhampton Inn. Tracy appears pregnant at this point, and she begins having contractions. They quickly get into a car that's waiting outside, placing their two-year-old daughter in a carseat, and Ted tells Tracy that he's proud of her, as is their daughter, Penny. As Ted hurriedly drives toward the hospital, Future Ted tells his kids that the one exception to the "nothing good happens after 2 a.m." rule was the birth of his son, Luke.

In 2020, Ted re-proposes to Tracy, and they get married in a simple ceremony attended by the whole gang.

On New Year's Eve of 2022, Tracy and Ted go to a celebration of releasing a book written by her. In the limo outside of the event, Ted recalls the vow he made before (Rally) of not drinking as much as Barney drank in the night before his wedding (Unpause) so he wouldn't get such a terrible hangover. The next morning, Tracy gets a hangover, and Ted makes her the Stinson Hangover Fixer Elixir.

Ted and The Mother in the winter of 2024.

In 2024, Tracy and Ted are back at the Farhampton Inn. Ted attempts to tell her stories like he told his children, but they both discover that they have told each other every story they have, finally considering themselves, "an old married couple." She then says that he should not live in his past stories but instead live life moving forward. (Vesuvius) This is possibly indicating that they already knew about Tracy's illness by this point.
In Last Forever - Part Two it is revealed that Tracy dies of her illness sometime in 2024. Ted recalls the time the time he met her and he says from the moment that he met her, he had to love her for as long as her could. His daughter reveals that she has been gone for six years since 2030, when encouraging Ted to ask out Robin, after Ted finishes the story of how he met the mother.

Ted and The Mother in the hospital in 2024

Known Facts

Before we ever met Tracy, the following was revealed throughout the series:

"Kids, funny thing about destiny. I thought I was destined to get that job, but I was wrong. My destiny was to stay in New York. Because if I hadn't, I never would've met your mother."

This strongly suggested that Ted meets The Mother in New York. During Future Ted's narration, the scene flashes forward to Ted at the altar with the Mother, whose head is obscured by a bridal veil. Barney and Marshall are also present.

At the end of Something Blue, Future Ted closes the episode talking about his and Robin's futures:

"And as hard as it was at the time, in the end we both got what we wanted. She did eventually go on to live in Argentina, and Morocco, Greece, Russia, even Japan for a little while. And I? Well, I met your mom."

At the end of How I Met Everyone Else, Ted asks Marshall and Lily where his wife is, at his college reunion. As the reunion was held in 2020, it is revealed that, by 2020, Ted would have already gotten married.

In Wait For It, it is revealed by Future Ted that The Mother's yellow umbrella factors into the story of how she and Ted met.

In No Tomorrow, Future Ted states that his future wife was at the same St. Patrick's Day party he went to, but that they didn't meet each other. When going back to the party to find his phone, he picked up the yellow umbrella that belonged to her. However, Ted does bump into some seemingly arbitrary woman whom he seems to notice and who seems to notice him, now proven to be a red herring.

In The Three Days Rule, Future Ted told his children that when he got their mother's phone number, he called her right away.

In The Leap, Ted is shown teaching his first class at Columbia University. Future Ted narrates how this was the best job he's ever had, and that if it weren't for that job, he never would have met their Mother. However, in Definitions, it's revealed that Ted was in the wrong room for his first class, and all the students there were Economics students, and that The Mother was one of them.

In Double Date, Future Ted told his kids that when he first told their mother his "shellfish-selfish" joke, she laughed.

In Last Cigarette Ever, Future Ted reveals that he eventually quit smoking two weeks into dating The Mother.

In Girls Versus Suits, Ted dates a girl named Cindy. Cindy's roommate is The Mother, as revealed by Future Ted. Although they never meet, while in Cindy's apartment Ted looks around and discovers things about the roommate/mother that shows they have very similar likes and hobbies, such as making breakfast foods sing show tunes, painting pictures of robots playing sports, and playing bass guitar. Ted also sees what Future Ted states was probably The Mother's feet, as she leaves the bathroom to go into her room.

In Garbage Island, in a scene that flashes forward to 2021, Ted meets Wendy the Waitress at an airport and tells her that he is now married to "a wonderful woman" and has two kids, revealing that he will have met and married The Mother by this time. This fits into the continuity of the series, given that Ted's kids are in their late teens by 2030.

Later in The Exploding Meatball Sub, a scene set in April 2021 (ten years into the future) shows Ted wearing a wedding ring, further implying he will have met and married The Mother by this time.

In No Pressure, it is stated that the last person he said 'I love you' to before The Mother was Robin.

The Mother and Ted at the Farhampton train station

In Trilogy Time, it is shown that by 2015, Ted is watching the Star Wars trilogy with Barney, Marshall, and his baby daughter - implying Ted has met The Mother and has had a child by that time. Ted is also seen to be wearing a wedding ring in the scene as well which means he has already married The Mother by 2015.

The Mother playing bass at the wedding

In Farhampton, it is shown that while Ted is waiting for the train back to the city at the Farhampton train station, after Barney and Robin's wedding, The Mother also comes there, holding up her yellow umbrella in the rain. Craig Thomas confirmed in an interview that this is the place where Ted and The Mother finally meet. [1]

In Band or DJ?, it is revealed that The Mother is the bass guitar player in the band playing at Barney and Robin's wedding

In Bad Crazy, Future Ted reveals that the last girl he dated before meeting The Mother was Jeanette.

In The Time Travelers, it is revealed that in April of 2013, 45 days before she met Ted, The Mother was dating a Finance guy named Louis, living at 317 West 115th Street in apartment 7A and still getting her Economics degree.

In Something New The Mother's appearance is finally revealed: She's short, has mid-length brown hair, large brown eyes, and a wide smile. In this episode she is buying her ticket for Farhampton where eventually she'll meet Ted.

In How Your Mother Met Me, It is revealed that The Mother's 21st birthday was in September 2005, this makes her birth date 1984 which also makes her 28 by the events of Barney and Robin's wedding. Her birthday also falls on the same date Ted met Robin, and when Marshall and Lily got engaged.

In Vesuvius, she and Ted are addressed as "The Mosbys," implying that she may have taken Ted's surname after their marriage in 2020.

It is revealed in the Finale that the Mother died 6 years prior to when Ted started telling the story. This means that she died around 2024.

Possibilities and Theories

This is a list of possible identities and popular theories regarding The Mother.

At the end of Belly Full of Turkey, Future Ted jokes to his kids that the stripper named Tracy he flirts with was their mother. Their shocked reaction when he tells them "And that, kids, is the true story of how I met your mother." - and subsequent relief when he laughs and says "I'm kidding." - both suggest that they believed him at first, and that their mother's name may also be Tracy. Similarly, in the first episode of the series, Ted tells them the story of how he met Robin, and they believe it is the story of how he met their mother, until he reveals in the end that it was "Aunt Robin." This too would have been a nod to The Mother's possible name, however Robin's name is never mentioned until Future Ted's reveal at the end of the episode. Because of this, there is no reason for the kids' reaction to suggest that their mother is also named "Robin." The mother's name was confirmed as "Tracy McConnell" when she spoke it near the end of "Last Forever - Part Two", thus giving credence for the kids' shock mentioned above.

Past Candidates

This is a list of people who, in the past, were potential candidates for being The Mother. However, due to new information released later during the series, these people have been excluded from being potential candidates. Please note that only those who had a realistic chance of being The Mother are included in this list, such as those that have been in serious, long-term relationships with Ted.

Ted's Love Solutions Match

During Milk, Ted has a date with Ted's Love Solutions Match, as they share a lot of similar interests and she wants the same things out of life as Ted does. However, Ted realizes that he doesn't want perfect, he wants Robin, and stands her up on their date to pursue Robin instead. Ted says she's 28, but Tracy turned 21 during the events of the Pilot, so it is very unlikely they are the same person.

In the Pilot, it was shown that Ted wanted to get married and loved Robin, so it was implied that she would be The Mother. However, at the end of the episode, Future Ted reveals that that girl turned out to be Aunt Robin, not The Mother. This may be a device used by Future Ted to state the intimacy Ted's kids have with his friends, as Marshall, Barney and Lily are named aunt/uncle throughout. In Symphony of Illumination, it is revealed that Robin cannot have children, so she could not be The Mother. Lastly, in The Magician's Code - Part Two, it is shown that Robin is the bride at Barney's wedding, eliminating any possibilities of her being The Mother.

Relationship with Robin

So far, every step that has brought Ted closer to meeting The Mother has been indirectly connected to Robin in some way:

In Season 8, When Ted proposes to Victoria a few months after they got back together, she makes him decide between marrying her or keeping his friendship with Robin. Ted chooses his friendship with Robin and, as a result, Ted and Victoria break up.(The Autumn of Break-Ups)

After Barney and Robin's wedding reception, Ted is at the Farhampton train station because he plans on moving to Chicago to not be around Robin and Barney after they get married, and meets The Mother at the train station. (Farhampton, Something New)

In Season 9, Barney reveals that Robin dared him to pick up a woman who was later revealed to be the Mother. The Mother figured out that he was in love with Robin and encouraged him to propose to her. If Robin didn't dare Barney in the first place, they would never have gotten married and Ted would still be all alone.(Platonish)

In Last Forever - Part Two, Robin lists Ted's relationship with Tracy as one of the reasons she doesn't hang out with the gang anymore. Robin reunites with the gang for Ted and Tracy's wedding, with the implication that they intentionally postponed it so they could have all their friends present. Ted's kids comment on how the story about how he met Tracy focused more on his feelings for Robin. They conclude that after all these years, their father subconsciously still has feelings for Robin. So he gets back together with Robin as the mother reunites with her special one Max in heaven.

Due to the seriousness of their relationship, it was suspected Victoria would be The Mother, but as was said earlier, in Lucky Penny, Future Ted states that he had not yet met The Mother. Since Ted met Victoria months prior to this episode, it's clear Victoria is not The Mother. She also makes a major appearance in Ducky Tie, where she reveals she maybe getting engaged.. However, it's likely that if How I Met Your Mother had not been renewed for a second season, Victoria would have been a fallback option and become The Mother. Although, Victoria left her fiancée at the altar for Ted and they started dating again in Season 8, it has been confirmed that she is not The Mother.[2]

Stella was a likely candidate to be The Mother, due to the seriousness of her relationship with Ted, culminating with their engagement and subsequent wedding plans. In Ten Sessions, Stella tells Ted that the last party she'd been to was on St. Patrick's Day, whereas in the previous episode, No Tomorrow, he reveals to his kids that their mother was at a same party that he was on St. Patrick's Day. However, Stella left him on their wedding day to be with her ex-boyfriend and father of her daughter Lucy, Tony Grafanello. However, if How I Met Your Mother had ended after Season 3, then Stella would likely have been a fallback option (similar to Victoria) and she would have been The Mother, although unless Lucy was the girl child, she does not appear to be present while Ted is talking to his kids.

Zoey was never a real possibility to be The Mother, since it had been stated before Ted met her that the day he met his wife was the day of a wedding further down the road. It further confirms that Zoey is not The Mother when Ted reveals to Wendy the Waitress when they meet in 2021, in Garbage Island, that his and Zoey's relationship ended badly and that he eventually married The Mother, the true love of his life.

Until Ring Up, it was speculated that The Mother could be Barney's half-sister, Carly, as this would have literally made Robin and Barney aunt and uncle to Ted's future children. Not much was known about her, except that she is currently attending college, mentioned by Jerome Whittaker in Legendaddy. Thus, she may have been in the Economics class Ted accidentally went into as his first first day as a Professor. Carly's family also lives ten minutes away from Ted's house, and it is likely that she grew up in that family house.

Ted meets Carly in Season 8 and briefly dates her without knowing she's Barney's sister. Upon discovering this, Barney gets angry and tries to forcefully marry them, but both of them decide not to go with it.

Episode Appearances

Note: Any episode prior to "Something New" The Mother was played by stunt actresses, her first official appearance is in the aforementioned episode.

Notes and Trivia

Like Barney and Robin, she doesn't appear to age in any of her future appearances.

In all of her appearances in the future except for Rally,Gary Blauman, and Last Forever, she is at the Farhampton Inn. In Rally she is first seen in the back of a limo with Ted, and again with him at their house on New Year's Day. In Gary Blauman she is on her first date with Ted.

The flashforward of Rally tells us that the mother ends up writing a book.

It is interesting to note that in all of the Mother's future appearances she is only seen with Ted or Luke & Penny. She had never interacted with Robin, Lily, Marshall, or Barney until the two part finale, where she even invites Robin to her and Ted's wedding.

"...She never would've left that much of her sandwich uneaten. No joke, I've seen that woman get a half a pad of butter wrapped up to go...

...Oh, and your mother would've definitely would've befriended the waitress, which inevitably would have lead to a free dessert...Mom's ability to get free pie; supernatural...

...Oh, and I wouldn't have had much luck with an orchid. I'd have given her lilacs; her favorite...which just just happened to be the first flower I ever gave her...the very moment we met..."

Josh Radnor has said that he wants The Mother to be played by an unknown actress: “I don’t think it should be any sort of stunt casting. I think it would be more interesting to have this fresh, exciting face that Ted has never seen before and neither have people who watch the show.” [5]

When Future Ted was imagining what his kids would look like if he married Stella, they had blond hair. The Mother has brown hair instead of blond.

In all episodes involving flash-forwards to Barney and Robin's Wedding, Ted is seen wearing a lilac boutonniere on the suit he wears to the wedding. A lilac is the flower he gives to The Mother the very moment they meet (according to the Season 6 DVD set special feature).

On October 19, 2012, Lyndsy Fonseca said in an interview with The Huffington Post, in response to the question "Do you have any hunches on who The Mother is?", she says "there was a time when we were told who it was and to never give the information out."[6]

However, Cristin Milioti was only cast in the spring of 2013.

It is possible Lyndsy meant 'The Mother' was Robin, due to the fact she and David had already filmed their part in the series finale 6 years prior.

Tracy has met all the members of the gang except Ted prior to Barney and Robin's Wedding. It seems as if they have all been helped by her in some form.

Barney is the first to meet Tracy in Platonish. She helps Barney realize he wants to win Robin and marry her.

Lily meets Tracy in The Locket. She helps Lily cope with her separation anxiety from Marvin. Inadvertently this helps Marshall by giving him more time to delete the picture about Marshall's judgeship.

Marshall meets Tracy in Bass Player Wanted. She picks him and Marvin up from the side of the road on their way to the Farhampton Inn. She helps Marshall prepare for his coming argument with Lily while Marshall helps her build up the courage to stand up to Darren, one of her fellow band members who was prepared to kick her out of the band she created.

Robin meets Tracy in The End of the Aisle. She helps Robin in getting off her cold feet by telling her that sometimes three deep breaths can change everything.

Tracy is the main reason why Barney and Robin got married in the first place. It is also vice versa, because without the wedding, she and Ted would have not met, and their kids would have never been born.